This section features background information and resources relevant to the current research theme. It includes resources produced by WDR and external sources and is organised by regions and topics. An archive of resources recommended in previous research cycles is also available along with news from the WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News Service.
A Review of the Network Readiness Index Print E-mail
Written by Divakar Goswami   
Tuesday, 19 September 2006
Article Index
A Review of the Network Readiness Index
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Environment Component

Market

Under the Market Environment subindex there are no indicators that look at market concentration or degree of competition in the ICT markets. A potential investor would be interested in knowing whether barriers to entry into a market are high or low. An indicator that measures market concentration (HHI) or a perception index on openness of a country’s telecom market may be relevant. Such an indicator is probably more central to measuring the market environment than any of the other indicators listed under the subindex.

Political & Regulatory

Under the Political and Regulatory Environment subindex there are no indicators that measure the performance of the National Regulatory Agency (NRA), which defines the regulatory environment for the ICT sector. Whether the ICT sector in a country has a NRA or not says a lot about a country’s political and regulatory environment. Furthermore, if a NRA is in place, whether or not it is separate from the policymaking arm of the government also says a lot about the credibility and independence of the agency. Answers to both questions are readily available online for a large number of countries.  Measure of a NRA’s performance can be based on criteria such as the number of days it takes the agency to process complaints, take decisions or whether operators can apply for licenses online or if the NRA conducts public consultations that reflect transparency in its procedures etc. Alternatively, questions could be introduced in the perception survey that the WEF already conducts to ascertain the views of key decision-makers on the performance of the NRA.

Infrastructure

Under the Infrastructure Environment subindex, there is no indicator that measures mobile sector growth or subscriber base, despite this sector driving telecom growth across the world. Sole reliance on number of fixed line phones is a serious lacuna when in a large number of countries mobile penetration has overtaken fixed line penetration.

Furthermore, adding an indicator that reports total international bandwidth that is available in a country would be important information for companies that rely on international connectivity especially those that are involved in IT-enabled services (ITES).